Beyond that, you can search all our journal entries for something specific:

Idea Guide

Originally started as a scrapbook, this section of our site includes photos and other materials that influence our renovation approach. They're mostly design elements typical to bungalows built between 1900 and 1940.

Reviews

Doing our own home restoration projects have allowed us to research and try out lots of different resources and tools. Eventually we decided we wanted to share some of our opinions, feedback and suggestions.

Shop

Since we bought the house in 2003, we've done a lot of research and we've tested a lot of products and materials. Reviews of these are sprinkled throughout the blog, and we've decided to put many of these in one place where they are easy to find. These aren't paid endorsements, they are just things that we like. Since we are using Amazon.com to pull all of this information together and Amazon doesn't list EVERYTHING we like, check out the Reviews section for additional information on things that we've used and like.

Houseblogs.net

Interested in more on home improvement? If so you may also enjoy Houseblogs.net, a community of housebloggers like us.

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Blogging Philosophy

When other folks (besides our parents and friends) began to visit the site, we decided to lay down some ground rules to make everything all fair and square and respectful:

1) Do not accept free products/services in exchange for positive endorsements.
2) Posting the cost of commodities (light fixtures, tile) is fine. We will not publish the cost of services and products created to fit the house out of respect for the vendor (We explain more below*).
3) Be honest in publishing what we think about products--and how we use them, just in case we are using them incorrectly.
4) Only publish the contact information for vendors who have done a great job for us. Otherwise, nothing.

* Let me explain about our "no cost of special services" published rule. Since we generally have great vendors, we publish their identifying information. However, if we published their costs, that would be disrespectful. One, their competitors would have access to it through us, and that makes us feel uncomfortable. Two, every job is different and we don't want to set up anyone else for unrealistic expectations. (Cost can also depend on what area of the country you are in.)

We are happy to share the types of information that we look for when choosing a product or service to make sure that we feel we were getting a good value. What items to ask about (warranties, service, how to try to assess competence, etc.)

That's it. Otherwise, we try to be as authentic as possible about our experiences during this renovation while trying to respect that some aspects of our personal lives must remain private. Hope you enjoy the blog!

You can contact Aaron and Jeannie at owners (at) houseinprogress.net

Or, you can correspond with us via snail mail:

HouseInProgress
c/o HiP Media
P.O. Box 59183
Chicago, IL 60659

It turns out people outside our family also read this site. Go figure!?